China Insists NATO Stop The Bombing / U.N. peace plan linked to end of air campaign

John Pomfret, Washington Post

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, May 11, 1999

1999-05-11 04:00:00 PDT Beijing -- As government-orchestrated protests against the United States widened yesterday, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said NATO must stop bombing Yugoslavia before the U.N. Security Council considers any peace plan to end the Kosovo conflict.

Jiang, speaking by telephone with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, effectively laid down a new condition for any U.N. action because China has a veto in the Security Council.

In his first public remarks since NATO's mistaken bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade on Saturday, Jiang also condemned Western powers for their "gunboat diplomacy" and demanded an official apology from the United States, according to China's official news agency.

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In Washington, President Clinton, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright extended televised apologies to the Chinese government for the Belgrade attack that killed three Chinese journalists.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the statements would satisfy Beijing. Chinese officials had expressed displeasure with Clinton's apology Saturday in which he tempered his remarks by also blaming Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for his "barbaric" actions against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Yesterday, Clinton called the bombing an "isolated, tragic event" that should not be compared with the "deliberate and systematic crime" of Serbian violence in Kosovo.

Albright reiterated "our profound sorrow at the loss of life and injuries. . . . The people of China should know that NATO leaders, including President Clinton, have apologized for this tragic error. NATO will provide China with a full explanation of how this could have occurred, even as we continue to pursue a broad- based relationship . . . that serves both our interests."

Clinton authorized Motorola Inc. yesterday to go forward with its planned launch of a satellite atop a Chinese rocket next month. White House officials called the decision coincidental and unrelated to the administration's campaign to mollify the Chinese in the wake of the accidental bombing.

In Beijing, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan summoned U.S. Ambassador James Sasser, who was besieged by thousands of protesters, to the Foreign Ministry yesterday afternoon. Sasser refused to go, citing security concerns. So Tang read the American envoy a list of four demands on the telephone. First, Tang said, China wanted an "open and full apology" for the attack; second, an investigation; third, publication of the inquiry's results, and, fourth, for the United States to "severely punish those responsible for the attack."

On the third day of large street demonstrations in Beijing, the protesters differed markedly from those who exploded in anger during the weekend. Then, students dominated the procession that filed by the U.S. and British embassies, tossing rocks, paint and Molotov cocktails.

Yesterday, in an apparent attempt to show the broad opposition to NATO's attacks, protesters came from all walks of life -- artists, airplane designers, Buddhist monks and a Catholic priest. In many cases, participants were bused to the demonstration site. They also were provided with bullhorns and a list of government-approved slogans.

Although the protests have been choreographed by the government, the emotions -- underscored by placards saying "Clinton is a Nazi" and "Kill Americans" -- are genuine.

Chinese state-run media continued to evoke nationalistic sentiments, showing film clips of the father of one of the three dead journalists clutching the blood-stained blanket of his daughter, Zhu Ying. In another scene, he was shown embracing her corpse. "Why did NATO kill my daughter and my son-in-law?" said the man, shaking with sadness and rage.

The People's Daily, the official publication of the Communist Party, used a front-page editorial titled, "China will not be bullied," to renew its charge that the embassy bombing was deliberate. It made no mention of American apologies or of a letter Clinton sent to Jiang, explaining that the attack was a mistake. "If people think they can use arms to scare Chinese, they have made a big mistake," the editorial said.

The developments highlighted China's main goals stemming from NATO's strike against its embassy.

On the international front, China is using the tragedy to increase its profile, position itself as a peacemaker and aggrieved party and sidestep American-led attempts to modify its behavior, Western analysts said.

To that end, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao announced earlier yesterday that China was suspending its cooperation with the United States to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the first concrete step the government has taken following the NATO attack. The suspension affected areas of key interest to the United States, including concerns that China has provided nuclear weapons or missile technology to Pakistan, Iran or possibly other countries. China also suspended its dialogue with the United States on human rights and stopped high-level military contacts with Washington.

The Chinese moves were another indication that relations between Washington and Beijing, which have been deteriorating for the last six months, face their worst crisis since ties were normalized 20 years ago.

The toll in diplomatic, economic and cultural contacts continued to rise. In Washington, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory warning Americans to postpone travel to China "until the situation stabilizes."

Jiang was quoted by the New China News Agency as telling Yeltsin in a hotline conversation that continued NATO bombing would make it "impossible for the U.N. Security Council to discuss any plan to solve the problem" in Kosovo -- a sign that China would not cooperate in the 15-member body unless NATO stopped its attacks.

THE CONTACTS CHINA HAS SUSPENDED

Human rights: China and the United States resumed a dialogue on touchy human rights issues in January after a four-year break. At a two-day meeting in Washington, State Department officials criticized China for cracking down on dissidents and not opening talks with the Dalai Lama on Tibet. Chinese diplomats raised concerns about U.S. prison conditions and the high number of black Americans in prison.

Military: The two sides have held talks on preventing accidents between their navies, traded views on disaster relief operations and agreed to cooperate on environmental protection.

Arms control and security: Broken off amid China's anger over U.S. support for Taiwan in mid-1995, talks on arms control, weapons proliferation and security issues have made sporadic progress. Washington has suspected China of transferring nuclear and missile technology to Pakistan, Iran and other nations. Chinese and U.S. arms experts have met over China's agreement to limit the spread of missile technology. China has tightened its controls on exports of nuclear technology, complying with U.S. demands.